"Suihe" brand attachements (Ritchie Bros)

[Dahendo]

Does anyone have any experience with the Chinese skidsteer attachments that Ritchie Bros sells? I bought a bucket grapple a few years ago and absolutely trashed it within about 3 hours (albeit quite heavy use).

I'm looking at a brush cutter, I've got a 4 acre pasture that needs to be mowed a couple times a year, it's a bit too rough for a lawn tractor but it's not like I'm chewing up 2" saplings. There appears to be absolutely no specs on these things available.

 

[56wrench]

where would you get replacement parts for those implements? i would stick to something you could get parts for.

 

[Dahendo]

Probably why they only make the more basic implements. Bearings/motors/fittings/cylinders are all standard parts you could pick up at princess auto. For the blades/teeth/rotating assemblies either patch it up or fabricate replacements.

I would never try to run these in a commercial aspect but sometimes you can pick them up for 1/10th of the cost of a similar product from a recognizable manufacturer. If it's only going to get a few hours every year it might last. Otherwise the economical thing to do is rent but that can be a hassle.

 

[Welder Dave]

They have vibratory rollers for skid steers that are selling for around $1400. I think name brand are closer to $10,000. I'm curious if these are worth considering too?

 

[Dahendo]

They sell a couple dozen of these things at every sale, surely someone on here has tried them.

 

[Dahendo]

Well I purchased a brush cutter, for $1200 CAD I couldn't resist. Given my latitude I won't be able to use it for a few months but here's what I think so far:
Frame seems to be sturdy enough, heavy steel and reinforced where it should be
Fasteners appear to be garbage, no grade markings and probably the same quality as come with Ikea furniture
Hydraulic components are undersized at 1/2"
Motor claims to be an Eaton but is clearly a Chinese copy. The model # they give doesn't relate to any Eaton motor and no specs are available
spins up to a good RPM on a low flow machine, given the hose sizes I expect it is designed for low flow.
Rotating assembly is way off balance, shakes the hell out of my skid
Blades are not sharpened, they're the same size as on a real brush cutter but I think they're just unhardened mild steel flat bar
1" shaft coming off the gearbox
No engineered weak point in the whole system

Before putting it to use I plan to;
Replace all fasteners and locktite in place
Upgrade hoses and fittings to 3/4"
Sharpen and heat treat the blades
Balance the rotating assembly
Add a pressure relief valve and a pressure gauge to the hydraulic system
Maybe put a driveline saver/weak point between the motor and gearbox?

After all that I think I'll have a reliable attachment and still be well under the cost of a name brand one.

 

[Welder Dave]

Maybe take the blades off and see if they are the same weight or could maybe put name brand blades on. My dad sold commercial mowers for decades. As an experiment they taped a quarter on one end of a push mower blade to see what would happen and the mower shook itself to death. I can only imagine what unbalanced blades on a large mower would do.

 

[Dahendo]

The tough part of balancing it will the the stump pan which appears to be mounted on the shaft a half inch offset. Hopefully I can find a way to mount it in a tire balancer and even it out with a grinder.

 

[Welder Dave]

The blades you should be able to balance fairly easily but if the stump pan is off by 1/2 an inch would cause major vibration. Maybe the hole was drilled or punched wrong. If it's pressed steel should be able to weld the hole up and drill a new hole dead center. Maybe you could see what name brand mowers use and just adapt the blades and stump jumper? Might be easier than trying to figure out what's wrong with the original parts.

 

[suladas]

I bought a thumb for my 210 there, and it's been fine. I did bend 1 of the tines, but it was lifting a massive piece of concrete with only one, so I can't really blame it. I think if you look at the things closely and know you can get parts, the price is worth it. For the thumb, other then steel it's just a hydraulic cylinder, so if it's junk it's easy to just buy a new one and still save a fortune.

 

[Welder Dave]

I wonder about a hyd. motor on a vibratory roller?

 

[Dahendo]

There's a little bit of info on the vibratory rollers online;
http://www.suiheshelter.com/product/135.html
https://media.sandhills.com/img.axd...t=0&checksum=DlV5Tmd3g4busWP9yYy396UV/AY0e1ep

There's also a video on youtube;

Looking at pictures of the different attachments, it looks like they use two different "Eaton" hyd motors. Either a 2k-130 or a 6k-490. I did manage to find the Eaton specs for the corresponding models:

Eaton 2000.130, Optimal at 20 GPM, 3000 PSI, 576 RPM, 285 ft.lb. (If that's true my skid is underpowered for it but a hi-flow unit would over pressure)
Eaton 6000.490, Optimal at 40 GPM, 3000 PSI, 307 RPM, 1066 ft.lb.

The Wolverine brand which is also sold at RB (I'm guessing same thing with different branding) specs 20 GPM, which would be the 2k-130 motor.

 

[Welder Dave]

Thanks for that. I doubt it's an original Eaton motor. It sure seems to shake the person making the video. LoL

 

[Dahendo]

Thanks for that. I doubt it's an original Eaton motor. It sure seems to shake the person making the video. LoL

Definitely a Chinese copy so those specifications could be out to lunch. Sorry I should have stated that.

 

[Welder Dave]

I wonder if auction prices will be lower with the Covid 19 crisis?

 

[Dahendo]

Watching the Regina auction today, doesn't appear to be any deals! RB isn't allowing onsite bidding and limited equipment viewing so you'd think prices would nosedive. On the other hand, there's 40,000 people watching a 900 lot auction. Probably a lot of people at home and bored, clicking away.

 

[KSSS]

I think those attachments in general are the Heavy Equipment equivalent of Harbor Freight tools. They have a place but getting burned is just part of the experience. Vibratory rollers in general, even from known brands, seem to have issues staying together, you read of a lot of leaking drives. It is all about how much you have to depend on it. The more you need it, the less likely I would be to put faith in a knock off like that.

 

[climb.on]

Well I purchased a brush cutter, for $1200 CAD I couldn't resist. Given my latitude I won't be able to use it for a few months but here's what I think so far:
Frame seems to be sturdy enough, heavy steel and reinforced where it should be
Fasteners appear to be garbage, no grade markings and probably the same quality as come with Ikea furniture
Hydraulic components are undersized at 1/2"
Motor claims to be an Eaton but is clearly a Chinese copy. The model # they give doesn't relate to any Eaton motor and no specs are available
spins up to a good RPM on a low flow machine, given the hose sizes I expect it is designed for low flow.
Rotating assembly is way off balance, shakes the hell out of my skid
Blades are not sharpened, they're the same size as on a real brush cutter but I think they're just unhardened mild steel flat bar
1" shaft coming off the gearbox
No engineered weak point in the whole system

Before putting it to use I plan to;
Replace all fasteners and locktite in place
Upgrade hoses and fittings to 3/4"
Sharpen and heat treat the blades
Balance the rotating assembly
Add a pressure relief valve and a pressure gauge to the hydraulic system
Maybe put a driveline saver/weak point between the motor and gearbox?

After all that I think I'll have a reliable attachment and still be well under the cost of a name brand one.

I've owned one for 2 years now. Mine was sold as a "Blue Viper" but it's clearly the same as the Wolverine units. Paid $1700 US. It's worked well for my needs homeowner/landowner work. I'm pleasantly surprised how well it works for me. It's nothing that I would want to rely on to make me money though.

I've now broke the blade carrier. The welds and steel have broke in a few different places - probably from hitting rocks. The blade carrier was fabbed so crappy I'm surprised it lasted as long as it did. I'm thinking I'll just plasma cut a circle from 1/2" steel, weld in a new 12 spline hub, mount new blades and call it good. I just need to find blades with a 3" or 4" for a plain circle to work. The old blade carrier was about 3" tall.

Now that i pulled the blade carrier I can see most of the bolts are loose, but none are broken or missing. I'll replace them all with real bolts and loctite. My blades have held up well.

 

[Welder Dave]

I think you'd want to have the blades somewhat balanced so they don't vibrate the thing to death.

 

[climb.on]

I think you'd want to have the blades somewhat balanced so they don't vibrate the thing to death.

I agree. But considering it ran without noticeable vibration with the old mangled blade carrier, bent and broken, along with loose gear box mounting bolts...I'm thinking the balance maybe isn't as critical as I thought it would be. It's RPM is only 540 or something, so maybe that's why. Nevertheless, I'll do what I can.